China Economics Weekly What to watch at the NPC The 2020 growth target (or lack of one!) will be announced next Friday at the National People’s Congress (NPC) and will signal how confident the leadership is in a strong rebound and the degree to... 15th May 2020 · 5 mins read
Middle East & North Africa Economics Update CBE holds rates as it keeps a close eye on the pound The Central Bank of Egypt’s decision to keep interest rates unchanged today was not a major surprise given that efforts to prop up the pound have taken precedence over supporting the economy. If the... 14th May 2020 · 2 mins read
UK Economics Update Bank of England unlikely to take rates negative We think it is far more likely that the Bank of England will use further rounds of Quantitative Easing to boost demand rather than cut interest rates into negative territory as the market is... 14th May 2020 · 3 mins read
Overall policy response close in size to the US The federal government’s spending measures are dwarfed by those in the US, and the Bank of Canada’s plans look underwhelming compared to those of the Federal Reserve. But the overall fiscal packages... 13th May 2020 · 6 mins read
Australia & New Zealand Economics Update New Zealand - Bank will cut rates into negative territory before long The Reserve Bank of New Zealand (RBNZ) massively expanded its annual target for asset purchases at its meeting today and we still think the Bank will cut rates into negative territory before long. 13th May 2020 · 3 mins read
Asia Economics Update Vietnam cuts interest rates again, further easing is likely Vietnam’s central bank (SBV) today cut its main policy rate by 50bp to 4.5%, and further rate cuts are likely given the poor economic outlook. Although life in the country appears to be slowly... 12th May 2020 · 2 mins read
US Economics Update Negative rates still a long shot in the US The Fed has developed a habit of caving in the face of market pressure in recent years, but we still think the chances of it pushing the fed funds rate into negative territory are low. Fed officials... 11th May 2020 · 5 mins read
Global Central Bank Watch Taking stock of central bank lending facilities Traditionally, when central banks respond to economic downturns, slashing policy interest rates makes for the headline act. This time, with rates already near zero at the onset of the crisis, rate... 7th May 2020 · 19 mins read
Emerging Europe Economics Update Czech MPC strikes a conservative tone The Czech central bank delivered a larger-than-expected interest rate cut at today’s MPC meeting but also disappointed those that had expected some unconventional measures to be announced to support... 7th May 2020 · 3 mins read
UK Economics Weekly Credit won’t hold back the recovery, more to come from BoE There can be little doubt about how bad the recession will be now that the Bank of England has joined us and the OBR in forecasting that GDP will fall by 25-30%. But even so UK banks should be able to... 7th May 2020 · 8 mins read
Europe Economics Weekly Courts try to stall the ECB as gov’ts ease off the brakes This week’s ruling from the German constitutional court won’t stop the ECB from ramping up its asset purchases this year, but it may be a sign of much bigger problems further down the line. Meanwhile... 7th May 2020 · 7 mins read
Nordic & Swiss Economics Update Norges Bank sets a floor at zero This morning’s 25bp rate cut by the Norges Bank, to a fresh record low of zero, took the consensus by surprise, but was in line with our forecast. That said, the Bank gave a strong signal that it has... 7th May 2020 · 3 mins read
UK Economics Update The next expansion in QE may not be the last While the Monetary Policy Committee left its interest rate and quantitative easing policies unchanged this morning, it implied that an expansion of QE is imminent. This leaves our existing call that... 7th May 2020 · 3 mins read
Latin America Economics Update Copom set to cut further, Chile’s CB stays the course The Brazilian central bank’s 75bp cut in the Selic rate last night and the dovish tone of the accompanying statement has prompted us to pencil in a further 50bp of cuts (to 2.50%) in the coming months... 7th May 2020 · 3 mins read
RBNZ Watch Negative rates on the horizon The RBNZ will want to wait to assess the impact of the virus outbreak on inflation and the labour market before cutting rates further. As such, we think it will not announce any further stimulus... 6th May 2020 · 7 mins read
DM Markets Chart Pack Continued easing, but policy support remains essential Conditions in money markets have continued to ease gradually as central banks have expanded their backstop measures. In our view, extensive support from policymakers will remain a key factor... 6th May 2020 · 8 mins read
